The international trade fair Mindtech (Metal Industry & Technologies International Trade Fair) held today, Wednesday 16 October, a networking event at the Espacio Larra, in the city of Madrid.
Mindtech is the benchmark industrial fair in the Iberian Pole, which will hold its fourth edition in the city of Vigo (Galicia) from 17 to 19 June 2025. Prior to this benchmark industrial event, Mindtech organises various national and international business networking events to promote business in the industrial metal sector and its associated technologies, publicising the key activities of the fair itself.
Thus, the Mindtech business networkings have been held this time in the city of Madrid, under the title ‘Digital transformation in industry’.
During the meeting, the latest novelties of the fourth edition of the fair were presented and a colloquium between leading companies was held.
Enrique Mallón, Managing Director of Mindtech, opened this meeting by highlighting that ‘Mindtech is the meeting point for the metal industry and all its associated technologies, the intercontinental axis between Europe, Africa and the Atlantic countries. This is an unprecedented showcase to show the world all that our sector has to offer, and good proof of this are the companies that are with us today at this networking event in Madrid’.
The fair’s management insist that they are ‘working hard to make this 4th edition a historic milestone, with more than 200 exhibitors and 10,000 visitors, in a meeting that was born from the industry itself and for the industry. Mindtech 2023 is having a great reception, both in Galicia and especially abroad, and 60% of exhibitors are from other regions of Spain or other countries, demonstrating the relevance of the Iberian Pole as an international industrial hub. It is at meetings like this one that major contracts are closed and new value-added business relationships are created’.
In the framework of the networking event in Madrid, Virginia Rodenas, Director of Communication and IR at the Envera Group, spoke, highlighting the importance of the social prism in the industrial sector. ‘At Envera we work for the integration of people with intellectual disabilities in our educational centres, but also in the world of work, especially with Iberia, but also with 500 other companies, where we have integrated 1,200 workers with disabilities. It is a social work of great impact, which shows that these people can do value-added work within the industry itself, where they carry out jobs in areas such as digital services, back office, document management, invoicing or fuel management, among others. It is time to put people, with their different skills, at the heart of the industry’.
Round table discussion with industrial companies
During the round table discussion with companies from the sector, representatives from key industries took part and discussed the current situation in the sector and the challenges linked to the digital transformation, which is redefining the future of the industry.
Technology implementation
With regard to the implementation of technologies, the speakers highlighted the added challenge faced especially by small and medium-sized enterprises. In this sense, Ana Santiago, CEO, Sisteplant, explained that ‘having an ERP is not digitisation, in industry, and especially in SMEs, there is still a lot to do’.
Ramón Rodríguez, Technical Director at EPLAN, recommended starting with the basics and working on ‘technological differentiation, which is the only way to stay competitive’.
Beatriz Ventero, Global Technology Business Development Manager at Boeing, stressed that ‘SMEs have the problem of not having such a strong financial base, but they are also more agile when it comes to implementing technology and changes, and that can be an opportunity’.
Persons
The lack of professionals was another of the points that focused the debate. Ramón Rodríguez, from EPLAN, stressed that ‘you can’t expect to incorporate the perfect staff, the best way is to take advantage of the personnel already in the companies and invest in training and reskilling, you have to reinvent yourself by looking for qualities, not so much qualities’.
Digitalisation and Sustainability
Beatriz Ventero, from Boeign, explained that ‘In Spain we invest around 1.4% of GDP in research and technology, while Japan or Korea invest more than twice as much. We need to have strong and decisive national policies, based on university-industry cooperation, but even so, in Spain we have a marvellous workforce of technicians and wonderful public universities. We must continue to insist that talent does not go abroad and that the development of these technologies also takes place in our territory’. Ramón Rodríguez, from Eplan, added that ’ Spain lags behind in technology development, but not in implementation. There are small teams here that are making tremendous use of enabling technologies such as machine learning. . En este caso no aplica el pesimismo tradicional que tenemos a veces en España”.
Software and collaboration
All the speakers emphasised the transformative moment the industry is currently experiencing, marked to a large extent by the entry of software and tools in the cloud. ‘This brings with it a huge challenge in terms of cybersecurity. Large companies, for example in the automotive industry, do not want to go to the cloud for fear of a data breach in the cloud, and at the same time, SMEs often do not even have the capacity to consider it’, said Ana Santiago of Sisteplant. Ramón Rodríguez, from Eplan, stressed that ‘the cloud and the cloud are opening up a new world for us, but the basis of all this change is none other than a new way of working, based on collaboration’.
Key message for the sector
Ana Santiago, CEO, Sisteplant: ‘we need to focus on flexibility and versatility to enhance adaptability to the current environment’.
Ramón Rodríguez, Technical Director at EPLAN: ‘there is nothing new under the sun, we have already experienced other transformations, we can achieve this one, but we must focus on people, who are the real key’.
Beatriz Ventero, Global Technology Business Development Manager at Boeing ‘It is time to be more visionary, we have to stop thinking in a linear way, we are in a disruptive moment where everything is changing’.
The event hosted representatives of leading companies from the industrial sector, among whom business generation was encouraged, in line with the essence of the Mindtech fair itself.
About Mindtech
Mindtech, the international trade fair for metal industries and technologies, is organised by Asime (Asociación de Industrias del Metal y Tecnologías Asociadas de Galicia), a cluster of the sector that brings together more than 600 companies.) It will hold its 4th edition from 17 to 19 June 2025, at Ifevi, Vigo.
The fair has become an industrial benchmark for the Iberian hub, with the presence of international exhibitors and visitors, encompassing all areas of activity related to the metal sector and its associated technologies, including the following: machinery, automotive, aeronautics-aerospace, defence, renewable energies, metal structures, 4.0 technologies, robotics, subcontracting, supplies, additive manufacturing, electricity and electronics, moulds-die-casting, logistics, and business services.
In previous editions, Mindtech has attracted an average of more than 200 exhibitors, 10,000 visitors, 70 speakers and 250 B2B meetings each year. For the 4th edition, 130 exhibitors have already confirmed their presence.
Likewise, the international nature of the fair attracts more than 10 different countries to each edition, including, in addition to Spain and Portugal, Japan, South Korea, China, Colombia, Mexico, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Israel, Germany, France, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom. In this 4th edition in 2025, the guest country will be Mexico.
Mindtech reaffirms that the aim is to consolidate the fair within the framework of the Iberian Pole and once again offer a showcase of the latest technologies applied to the industry.
Full video of the event: https://youtu.be/qYLUQebu7r0
